Spiral Cut Out of Aluminum

A post shared by Chaz Capobianco (@chazcap) on Aug 3, 2014 at 1:10pm PDT

Molten Iron Vs. HUGE Magnet

Published on Jul 22, 2016 TheBackyardScientist

"Have you ever wondered what happens when you bring a magnet near 5000 degree molten Iron? Does it attract? Or repel? Maybe it create cool shapes. But most importantly... DOES IT EXPLODE?!

I set off thermite over a very large and expensive magnet to finally find out for myself what happens when molten metal meets a magnet.
I learned that molten iron is not responsive to a magnetic field until it falls below 1400 fahrenheit, the curie temperature. By then it's solid!"

LIQUID METAL BULLETS in Slow Motion!

Published on May 4, 2016 TheBackyardScientist

"In this video I shoot the worlds first liquid metal bullets made from sodium and potassium."

Mercury/Lead Amalgam "The Paradox Cup"

Published on Dec 15, 2015 TAOFLEDERMAUS

"In this video we are taking two very nasty and super-hazardous materials, lead and mercury, and alloying them together. This is guaranteed to make every heavy-metal-phobe, cringe in horror.
This experiment is based off a paper written in 1952 and is nearly unheard of today. The lead amalgam cup we create is supposed to hold water, but when mercury is poured in it, will leak like a sieve. I deviated from the original paper QUITE a bit yet the results were the same.
An 'amalgam' is the term for any metal that is combined or alloyed with mercury to form a new compound.

This idea was submitted by a science teacher, Mr. Beisel who told me he shows my mercury videos in his class to his students. There's no compliment better than that!"

Molten Aluminum Vs 'Spitballs' - SO COOL!! (water balz)

Published on Dec 15, 2015 TheBackyardScientist

"I packed a fishtank completely full of water balls (water beads, water balz, spitballs...). Im guessing there are over 10,000 in there!

Anyway, I melted a bunch of old aluminum pipes and poured them into the fishtank hoping to create a cool design. And it worked perfectly! These are really unique, no two pieces are alike."

Melting gallium spoon

Aluminum Vs Melons = Hand Grenade?!

Published on Sep 14, 2015 TheBackyardScientist

"Pouring molten aluminum in a watermelon turned out to be really popular, So I poured aluminum in two more melons, honeydew and cantaloupe. It turned out really cool, giving a perfect cast of the inside of a melon. It looked just like a hand grenade!"

World's Roundest Object!

Published on Mar 25, 2013 Veritasium

"The world's roundest object helps solve the longest running problem in measurement -- how to define the kilogram.
A kilogram isn't what it used to be. Literally. The original name for it was the 'grave', proposed in 1793 but it fell victim to the French Revolution like its creator, Lavoisier. So begins the tale of the most unusual SI unit. The kilogram is the only base unit with a prefix in its name, and the only one still defined by a physical artifact, the international prototype kilogram or IPK.

But the problem with this definition has long been apparent. The IPK doesn't seem to maintain its mass compared to 40 similar cylinders minted at the same time. The goal is therefore to eliminate the kilogram's dependence on a physical object. Two main approaches are being considered to achieve this end: the Avogadro Project and the Watt Balance.

The Avogadro project aims to redefine Avogadro's constant (currently defined by the kilogram -- the number of atoms in 12 g of carbon-12) and reverse the relationship so that the kilogram is precisely specified by Avogadro's constant. This method required creating the most perfect sphere on Earth. It is made out of a single crystal of silicon 28 atoms. By carefully measuring the diameter, the volume can be precisely specified. Since the atom spacing of silicon is well known, the number of atoms in a sphere can be accurately calculated. This allows for a very precise determination of Avogadro's constant.

Special thanks to Katie Green, Dr. David Farrant, the CSIRO, and the National Measurment Institute for their help. Thanks also to Nessy Hill for filming and reviewing earlier drafts of this video.

There is debate as to whether this is truly the roundest object ever created. The Gravity Probe-B rotors are also spherical with very low tolerances such that they may in fact be rounder.

Music by Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com) Decision, Danse Macabre, Scissors"

A Molten Meltdown

Published on Jul 30, 2015 Science Channel

"What caused these students to have an epic mishap with 1,300 degree molten aluminum?"

RED BULL vs Molten Lead - Magical Results - Super Leidenfrost Effect

Published on Jul 29, 2015 TAOFLEDERMAUS

"What happens when you pour Red Bull energy drink on molten lead?
The water begins to flash to steam. But the tiny steam bubbles are poor conductors of heat and prevent the liquid to just flash instantly into steam. The CO2 in the liquid "amplifies" this effect creating small CO2 bubbles (foam) and further insulates the liquid from boiling off. I call this the "super-leidenfrost effect". The liquid remains ON the surface of the lead and creates some very other-worldly patterns permanently on the surface of the lead. Molten lead is dangerous so do not try to duplicate unless you know exactly what you are doing."

Pouring Molten Metals into Water. COOL! (Aluminum, Thermite, Lead + More!)

Published on Jun 15, 2015 TheBackyardScientist

"Ive been pouring 7 different metals into a 24" tall aquarium over the weekend, and the results have been super cool! I poured metals with different melting points to see if they had any different effects when they came in contact with water. From Pewter (350f/170c) all the way to Thermite (4000f/2204c). Some of them exploded, some of them sank and made molten metal drippy-castles, but they were all interesting. Here is a list of metals I used, and their melting points:

Pewter 338–446 °F - 170–230 °C
Tin - 449.5°F (231.9°C)
Bismuth - 520.6°F (271.4°C)
Lead - 621.5°F (327.5°C)
Zinc - 787.2°F (419.5°C)
Aluminum - 1,221°F (660.3°C)
Iron - 2,800°F (1,538°C) 4000f (2200 C) Reaction

I don't have anything against the usage of celsius, or aluminiuminum. Im not calling you communists either, im just messing with you guys because you always yell about my pronunciation ;) (but seriously its aluminum in America!)

I poured in the metals as soon as they were fully liquid, so they could not raise too far above the melting point and skew the results. This video is a great demonstration of the leidenfrost effect."